


Slowly, Surely

by GeNo_C_iDe



Category: Gameboys (Web Series 2020), Gameboys the Series
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Dear Green manga, Freeform, Gameboys, Gameboys AU, Gameboys the series - Freeform, M/M, Yaoi, bl series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-20
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:07:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,642
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25402075
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GeNo_C_iDe/pseuds/GeNo_C_iDe
Summary: Gav and Cai have known each other for about eight years. Now in their fourth year in college and busy with school work, job hunting and relationships, the two close friends are struggling to find time with each other. One day, Cai kisses another guy just to see what it would feel like; and  Gav reacts in a way that does not seem reasonable, even for a close friend. (Based on the manga "Dear Green")
Relationships: Gavreel Alarcon/Cairo Lazaro
Comments: 5
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on the manga "Dear Green: Hitomo no Ounowa" of Fujiyama Hyouta. Unbeta-ed.

**First Meeting**

"This is my boyfriend, Gavreel."

Cairo couldn't help but stare at the guy standing right beside Pearl. He'd seen him around; they may have been classmates once, probably in elementary. But they were surely not close. He has dimpled (and slightly chubby) cheeks and curly hair, definitely Pearl's type. Cairo thought he had a cocky smile, likely frivolous and annoying.

"And this is my best friend, Cairo."

Gavreel smiled wider. He knew this guy; they were classmates in primary school, second grade. But they'd never spoken with each other. He remembered Cairo bringing a toy robot to school and some other kid breaking said toy. Gavreel remembered the way he cried and glared at the kid who broke his toy. He thought it was cute and couldn't look away. He thought this guy was a bit standoffish and blunt, but not horribly rude.

"Just call me Gav." Gavreel felt his cheeks sting from prolonged smiling.

Cairo raised his hand awkwardly as a greeting. "Cai. Just Cai then."

That was the first time they talked. It was seventh grade.


	2. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SD: GameBoys the Web Series is obviously not mine. It's owned by TheIdeaFirst Company, written by Ash Malanum. This story is inspired by Fujiyama Hyouta's manga "Dear Green: Hitomi no Ounowa". 
> 
> This fic is also unbeta-ed; so any one actually interested in doing that, feel free to do... whatever you do when you want to beta ('coz I've never beta-ed anyone's work before, much more mine).

Cai hurriedly closed the door of the karaoke booth, shutting off the loud noises coming from within and leaving the hallway in sudden silence. He cradled his phone to his ear, only to continuously hear the ringing sound from the other side of the call. Dropping the call for the twelfth time that hour, Cai swiftly pressed his keys to type in a message. 

'Hoy, gago. Where the hell are you?' 

He barely heard the sound of the door opening behind him. 

"Cai, are you leaving?" 

Cai recognized the voice of his classmate and current fling (maybe? - he's not sure), Christine. She's pretty, intelligent and nice. She has cute almond eyes, long silky hair and porcelain skin. She's also petite and probably his type, if Cai had any (he hadn't really thought much about it). He had been fancying her since the start of the semester. But at the moment, she was being clingy and it was annoying him a little. As he looked at her, he couldn't remember why he even liked her. 

"Yeah, sorry about that. I explained it already to Eric and gave him my share for the booth. I really have to get home before my roommate does. So, bye." He knew she was about to try and talk him out of going; so abruptly, he turned away from her, heading for the exit. 

"Wait, Cai!" Christine shouted behind him as soon as he got by the door. "I-I'll text you when we're done here!" 

"Yeah, same!" He shouted back at her. He may have forgotten about this exchange about a minute after he left the establishment. 

***

He didn't really need to get back home from the sem-ender party his classmates came up with in a spur of the moment. Gav has his keys with him all the time; and in the off chance he forgot them, he knew how to get in without them. 

But for nearly a month since late April, they had only talked with each other face-to-face for a few hours in total. Gav started his internship mid-semester at a resort in Quezon province. Cai got accepted as a research staff three week ago in one of his thesis adviser's projects. For weeks, they only saw each other whenever Gav came to their apartment very late near the end of each week, and then later the next day when they're packing up to visit their respective families: Gav to his grandmother in Cavite and Cai to his older brother living in Quezon City. And then they would almost always miss each other come Monday: with Gav going to class early and then often staying for 2-4 days in Quezon for the rest of the week; and Cai conducting week-long field work and staying in the lab until the wee hours of the night. Thus, by the end of the week for almost two months, Cai would usually feel an urgent need to go home early, if possible. This time around, with how hectic everything had been for the past several days, he also wanted to sleep off the entire weekend. 

Cai let a frustrated sigh as he drove around their apartment neighborhood. By the second half of the year, they would be in their 4th year of college. Their last year hasn't even started and already he's feeling tired of everything. He took a glimpse of his phone, before turning towards the road leading to their shared apartment. 

Lo and behold! Gav's car was parked in their driveway, in the usual haphazard way ("Gav, there's a reason why we painted lines on the parking space! And please stop running over the hedges!") that almost always drove Cai in a hissy fit. 

"Gav!" He opened the lights to their living room, squinting at the sad mess in front of him. With Gav barely around, Cai was left to tend the house. He dealt with it fine about a month ago; but when he too started to get busy, the apartment slowly went into an unprecedented disarray. It wasn't that the house was a total dump; but it was completely unusual for them to have their living space unkempt. 

"Gav!" He checked the fridge; and as expected, there were several new food containers inside, courtesy of Gav's internship. He hurriedly went upstairs after. 

"Gav," Cai called as he opened the door to Gav's room. The bed was untouched; everything in the room was the same as when he left it this morning. 

Relieved, Cai hummed fondly to himself, turning towards the adjacent room and opening its door. Gav was sleeping on the side of the bed nearest the wall, on his stomach and in his boxers. His backpack and overnight bag laid down by the desk. 

"Again, why do I bother cleaning your room?" Cai muttered to himself as he placed his satchel near Gav's and his keys on the desk. He stretched his neck and arms while contemplating whether he should take a bath. 

Gav looked exhausted even in his sleep. It must have been a pretty hectic week for him as well. Cai could understand him now that he has his own work to deal with. His activities were already set for the next 2-3 months; every week they were either in a meeting or on field work or some other event his adviser didn't want to attend to. They needed to start the project quickly, mainly because they were already late in starting due to the delay in the transfer of project funds. Damn government projects. Well, that's a concern for another day, Cai thought. 

Cai pulled out a pair of baggy shorts and shirt from his closet. He'd usually take a quick shower first before sleeping but Gav's sleeping form was enticing him to bed. The shower could wait until tomorrow. 

He laid down on the single-sized bed, on the cleared space next to Gav, facing away from him. Cai was already half asleep when he felt Gav turn on his side and drape an arm tightly around him. Gav's breath hitting the nape of his neck was the last thing he was aware of before succumbing to sleep. 

***

It's near impossible for Gav to go back to sleep once awoken. It was also impossible for him to mistake the feel and smell of Cai in the morning for someone else. Groggily, he lifted his head and buried his nose on the side of Cai's neck. Though he had mentioned it to Cai several times (and taken mostly as a joke), Gav loved the way he smelled, especially during the mornings after he decided not to take his nightly showers. God knew the boy showered too much. 

Gav breathed in and out deeply and noisily. Unbidden, Gav's worry about Cai's helplessness in the morning surfaced. Cai was not a morning person; he also tended to sleep like a log. It was something Gav discovered during a week-long school trip in 8th grade. Gav could blast music and make noises all over the house and Cai would have simply slept on. A simple nudge or shake wouldn't even wake him. Of course, over the years Gav had developed a few techniques to wake him up when necessary; but generally, Gav would just wait for Cai to wake up on his own. Cai did have a pretty precise body clock once he'd set when he wanted to wake up; and for today, Cai definitely did not set himself to wake up at nearly five o'clock in the morning. It didn't help that Cai's a night owl, so mornings were pretty much not his thing. 

He smoothed his hand over Cai's bare stomach. Gav gave himself another minute before he released Cai and decided to get out of bed. He moved to his bags and pulled out a shirt. After drinking a tall glass of water and brushing his teeth, he went on to do some chores. Gav tidied the living room, collected their laundry and gave all a spin in their washing machine, went out quickly for some groceries and fresh goods, hang their clothes out, and heated up some of the food he brought home for breakfast. He also made sure to park his car properly this time; he could already hear in his mind Cai's complaint later on ("In all the years, when had I ever run over the hedges? They would have died a long time ago if I did. They're just kissing, Cai, the bumper and the hedges.").

Weekends used to be relaxing and fun for the both of them. They didn't have to go to their respective families that often: Gav's grandmother stayed with his aunt; while Cai's family moved to Bukidnon three years ago. Cai got accepted into college just then and decided to stay. But last year, Gav's aunt went abroad; and though his older cousins were there to take care of their grandmother, her health hadn't been faring well. Simultaneously, Cai's brother got a job in Quezon City and was staying in their aunt's old condo unit. In some ways, both felt obligated to visit and spend time with their families. 

But they were not going to visit their families this Saturday. Gav sipped his freshly brewed coffee and sighed in contentment. 

After the global pandemic about four years ago and the development of vaccine the year after, the government mandated an annual vaccination for all citizens. Both he and Cai needed to take their annual shot today before they're allowed to go to work or anywhere outside the province. Though people still get infected by the virus these days, the mortality rate had drastically decreased ever since. Still, the virus did not bode well for people with health issues; and since Gav's grandmother was of critical age, he'd rather not chance it. 

Gav sat quietly by the window of Cai's room, coffee on hand, basking in the morning light filtering through. He had pushed aside all the curtains in Cai's room when he got up hours ago; and now, the room was bathed in warm light. It wasn't going to wake Cai up immediately; but he had learned through experience that it tended to ease up the process (like melted butter on top of hot popcorn, Gav thought happily). It was 8 o'clock already and that's just about the right time to wake him up. Gav stood up from his perched by the window sill and sat on the bed beside the sleeping Cai. 

"Baby..." At this point, Gav only needed to give him a slight nudge and a gentle caress on the face. Gav combed his fingers through Cai's hair just as the latter moved to lay on his back. 

"Wake up, baby. We've an appointment today." 

"What—" Cai raised his head to blearily look at him, only to lay back down seconds after with the intent of going back to sleep. 

"Baby, no. Get up, now." He pinched Cai's sides playfully, then proceeded to tickle him. 

Cai resisted weakly. "No... I'll get up. Give me a minute." 

"A minute, ok? Or I'll drag you from here by the feet." 

Gav reheated the caldereta he brought home last night. It took Cai about five minutes to wander into the kitchen. Gav could tell he's still out of it. "Babe, wash your face in the bathroom first before we eat."

Cai nodded absentmindedly, busy fighting off the heavy sleep from his eyes. Gav laughed after him. He hadn't felt this light in a while, not since he got really busy with his internship and could barely see Cai on a regular basis. Now it felt like the past months did not even happen. 

"We've about an hour and a half to prepare before our appointment. You should take a bath immediately after this. I'll take care of the dishes," Gav told him as he set down Cai's tea. 

Cai looked up at him confusedly. "What appointment?" 

Gav laughed heartily. "Knew it! You forgot, didn't you? Our vaccine appointment, it's scheduled today. I've been wondering why you haven't reminded me about it these last few days."

"Ugh, sorry, baby," Cai rubbed his face in frustration. "I completely forgot about it." 

Gav tried not to smile too widely. "We told your brother about it last week, so relax." He stood up to spoon food on an immobile Cai's plate. "It seems you've been preoccupied lately. You haven't been sleeping well?" 

Almost absentmindedly, Cai started eating. "You know I just got back last Wednesday from my field work. And then I had to study for the exams. Short answer: no, I haven't been sleeping well." Cai clicked his tongue. "Completely forgot about our vaccine sched." 

For a moment, Gav looked at him disapprovingly. "You've been running on chocolate milk these days, haven't you? You really shouldn't be drinking too much of that stuff." 

"Shut up, Gav." 

Gav smiled fondly at him. "That's ok, baby. I'll make sure you're eating healthy at least for this week." 

"How about you? You've been busy too. How are you?" 

"Our schedule's really been hectic. We had an international conference just this week and everything needed to be looked into. The event manager was a bit incompetent so there were a few mistakes and we had to work doubly hard to fix them. I'm glad I'm not alone though. One of the interns, Risa, suddenly had to host the opening ceremony because the one they hired was late. To think I'm only supposed to be working on the kitchens; but then we had to do everything." 

Cai quietly nodded all throughout the monologue. Gav knew it'll take Cai a while to get his bearing, or at least after he'd taken a shower. So, he rambled on and on about everything and anything that happened to him that week, knowing that Cai would likely not remember most of them. Cai usually looked as if he didn't care nor remember most of the stories he'd told him (though there had been a few special times when Cai would let slip that he had been listening to some of his ramblings). This didn't faze nor irritate Gav though. Cai had always been easy to talk with. Well, maybe not always. They had a few scuffles during the first few months of their meeting; but after talking and hashing out their differences, they got to know each other well and it had been splendidly easy with Cai ever since. Cai had always been straightforward with him and would tell him, in no uncertain terms, when he's irritated with him or happy about him (the latter being a lot harder to pull out of him than the former). And strangely enough, in almost all occasions, it felt like Cai knew almost instinctively what to do when he needed him to be there. 

"Baby!" Gav called just as Cai was about to take the stairs. 

"Yeah?" 

"Get yourself a new towel from my drawer." 

"You did the laundry?" Cai frowned confusedly. 

Gav smiled widely at him. "I'll let you do it for the next two weeks."

Cai gave him one of those delightful pouty glares. "But you sent Mama those cultured seedlings—"

"Shush! Cai, baby! Mama needed those seedlings and I happened to know the breeder, ok? It was nothing."

"But Gav! Ugh! Fine, I owe you." Cai stomped up the stairs angrily. 

"Cai!" Gav shouted back at him, a little belatedly. "It's nothing," he whispered to himself after he heard the sound of closing door. He went back to washing the dishes. 

*** 

"And then stupid Melvin bought green cabbages instead of the Chinese ones. The idiot couldn't tell the difference; he said he doesn't eat kimchi. I don't know why his fucking privileged ass is there to be honest. Oh, wait. I know why. His fucking privileged ass. Anyway, I asked the supervising chief if we could use the green cabbages for sauerkraut instead; I volunteered to buy another batch of cabbages for the kimchi but at least the ones bought won't go to waste." 

They were nearing the entrance of the hospital. Gav just kept nattering on throughout the drive, about his useless co-interns and stupid things people do at the resort. Cai, on the other hand, was focused on driving. He hated curved and steep roads. He would always focus harder whenever he's driving in this type of roads. He's not quite sure if Gav's incessant chattering was helping or annoying him; but he didn't want to know if he'd prefer Gav's silences either. 

They were already at the parking lot of the hospital when Cai relaxed. They were getting out of the car when Cai remembered something when he caught a glimpse of a book laying inconspicuously at the back seat of the car. 

"Hey, Gav. I ran into Kat at the Bio building a few days ago and she was asking for her chemistry book. She told me you had it and that I should tell you. What's up with that? Hey, your mask!" Cai threw a cloth face mask at Gav direction once they neared the hospital entrance. 

"Ah, thanks!" They stopped to wear their mask and sanitized their hands with alcohol before entering the premise. 

There weren't a lot of people scheduled for today; that's mainly because most people had their shots before or around January, just before the start of the school semester. Both of them decided to have it by the end of the school year or mid-year. 

"So, about Kat." 

"Don't worry about it. I'll ask Risa to give the book back to her." 

"Huh? Why?" 

"Ah, wait, did I forget to tell you? We broke up." 

"What?"

Their conversation was interrupted when they got to the front desk to confirm their schedule. Once their queue numbers were given, they sat down at the waiting area. 

"Wait. So, what happened. That's so sudden." 

"Actually, we broke up about a month ago, I think? Yeah... I'm pretty sure." 

"Huh? That long?"

"It wasn't really important, babe."

A beat. 

"Ok, I broke up with her. She was expecting a lot of things from me that I couldn't give. You know how busy I am this semester. And since I couldn't commit to her, I decided to break it off with her." 

"I see... And you're only telling this to me now?" 

Gav smiled sheepishly at him. "I know. I'm awful. But I really didn't think it was important."

Cai laughed at Gav's guilelessness. "It's awful, Gav. Fucking awful. So that's why Kat didn't look happy when she was talking with me. Knew you'd pissed her off again; but didn't think it was because of that. She looked like she would have slapped me back then." 

"Hoy, Cai. If she so much as glare at you across the hall, tell me. She's no right venting her anger on you. Besides, I know she's been flirting with one of the graduating seniors in her department so she doesn't have any right to be angry at all." Gav's face clearly showed his distaste. 

"Well, fuck. Good thing you broke up with her." Cai didn't know how to articulate the sudden spike of hatred for the said girl. Gav had always been loyal; he didn't deserve shitty relationships. 

Cai felt Gav's hand on his knee. "Ah, there goes your blood pressure again. Calm down. We're done. That's why I told you it's not important. She's not important." 

"I know she's not important, Gav. But you could have told me." 

"Yeah, but your forehead's doing that weird thing again, baby." 

"Ugh, stop! And it's not weird," he retorted as his hand shot up to rub at his forehead.

"So how was the sem-ender party yesterday?" Cai appreciated the change in topic. 

"So-so, I guess." 

"Huh? Why? Wasn't Christy-what's-her-name-again there?"

Cai gave him a look. "Christine. Of course, she's there."

Gav looked at him with a little disbelief. "So, was there a problem?"

"None." 

"None?"

"Nothing." 

"Nothing? Nothing. So, she's not important too?"

Cai chuckled. "Yeah, I guess." 

"Woah. Really? To think you were gushing about her since the semester started." Gav didn't sound surprised at all. Cai did tend to lose interest quickly. 

"Well, you know me." 

"I know." There was a tone in Gav's voice that made Cai look at him. He would hear it sometimes but couldn't identify what it was. Something in the softness of his tone that tugged at Cai's stomach and made him want to ask Gav, 'What was that?' But instead of asking, Cai indulged Gav's propensity for idle chit chat when it's just the two of them in public. 

They only had to wait for twenty more minutes before they were called in by a nurse. The procedure went fairly quick. Afterwards, they were given the standard lecture on post-vacc procedures, with the nurse emphasizing on what to do and who to contact when adverse side-effects of the standard vaccine arise (they've yet to perfect the RNA vaccines; one standard brand caused a few people to suddenly collapse or have near apoplectic reactions). They also got their schedule for a follow-up consultation on Wednesday. This meant they would have their clearance only after their follow-up (with the assumption that the doctor cleared them of any complications). And as a precautionary measure, this meant they were not allowed to go far from their town and should be under self-imposed quarantine until they got a clean bill of health. This also meant they should be stocking up on essentials immediately. 

*** 

Cai felt like he should be tapping his foot impatiently right now. Like really, it had been about fifteen minutes; he checked. 

"Baby, please." 

"Wait, baby. I just want to know the difference between these two. Is it the salt content? The water?"

"Jesus, Gav!" Cai pointed determinedly at a third brand on the shelf. "Pick that one." 

Gav looked up at him, then at the item he was pointing at. "Why?"

"It's a local brand." 

Gav held up one of the brands on his hand. "Same as this one." 

"Yes." Cai pointed at the brand Gav was holding. "But look, it says 'Imported from USA'. Packed and distributed here."

Gav frowned at him and then gestured towards the brand Cai wanted. "For all we know they could be importing it from somewhere else too." 

"I don't care, Gav. For now, I want them to lie to me." 

He felt more than heard Gav clicking his tongue. Cai almost heaved a sigh.

"Also, that's the brand we had the last time you cooked. I really liked it." 

"Really? Why didn't you say so?" Gav's eyes shone as if he won some sort of big prized lottery. Cai wondered if other people also felt like they've been whiplashed whenever Gav changed moods. Gav stocked their cart with four of brand #3. 

"Fucking garbanzos," Cai muttered under his breath as they moved away from the canned vegetable aisle. 

"Let's move faster. I really want to take off this mask. I'll go to the vegetable section. Can you go and pick up some bread?"

"Ok, and cereals too." 

"Meet you near the frozen goods." 

Holding bread and chocolate milk powder in one arm, Cai was trying to choose between frosted and chocolate cereals when he heard someone behind him. 

"Cai?" He immediately turned around.

"Uy, Terrence. What's up?" He minded the distance between them.

Terrence Carreon was another research staff under the same project he was working on. Though they were from different colleges, their specializations tended to overlap; thus, they'd been sort of partnered on this project; or rather, the project components they were working on needed them to collaborate constantly. Cai suspected they'd been together in at least one seminar class; but for the life of him, he couldn't remember. 

"Hey, what happened to you?" Terrence was pointedly looking at his mask. 

"Oh, this. I just had my CV shot today." 

"Ah! So that's why you'll be on leave this coming week. I've been wondering why." 

"Sorry I forgot to tell you. Also, because I'll be leaving all the work to you." 

"Haha! That's ok. You better not come to the lab this week. After all we did to get those specimens, I'd rather you not contaminate the lab. Take some rest though." 

"You know that impossible, you jerk." Cai laughed softly. "But thanks." 

"Don't thank me. I'll be sending you all the fieldwork photos and documents, as well as the details of the specimens tomorrow. Since you won't be going to the lab this week, you have to do the documentation for the latest field work." Terrence grinned mischievously. "Also, the news article. And Dr. Macalintang wanted the draft of the project presentation by next week." 

"You're horrible, Terrence." 

"But remember, I'll be the one prepping the specimens for the lab, and processing your procurement documents, and taking over all your meetings and tasks for next week. So do your best, partner!" Seriously, the guy may seem like a jerk; but Terrence was pretty nice. 

"I know. But thanks for—"

"Baby!" Gav's sudden hug from behind nearly toppled him. 

"Gav, what the hell!" He hissed. 

"Baby, they have salmon. And they have the frankfurters you like." 

Cai let out an audible sigh this time. "Seriously, Gav. Yes." 

"Salmon or frankfurters?" 

Another sigh. "Both." 

Gav's eyes crinkled as if he won something, again. Also, it's nothing unusual but it seemed that Gav was standing too close to him again (Cai could count his eyelashes at this point; it's a good indicator). And was he not talking to someone just now? 

Cai pushed Gav a little away from him. "Ah, Gav, I'm talking with someone here." 

"Ah, no. It's ok, Cai—" Terrence sounded a little flustered. 

"Gav, this is Terrence. He's a fellow research staff under the project I'm working on. Terrence, this is Gav, my roommate." 

"Nice, Terrence!" Gav awkwardly raised his hand to wave. "Sorry, can't shake your hand. We just had our CV shots." 

Terrence smiled cordially. "No problem, dude. Nice meeting you, Gav." To Cai's quiet surprise, Terrence gave Gav a quick once-over, then pointedly (almost wickedly) smiled at Cai. "I'll send you the files tomorrow, ok? Take care, guys. See you, Cai." He winked at Cai and wave at the both of them as he walked away. 

"Yeah, bye," was Cai's weak reply. He then tried to look around Gav. "Where's our cart?" 

He nearly forgot to take a cereal box with him (Gav told him to get the regular unfrosted ones when he saw Cai clutching the chocolate milk powder) after Gav tried to move him in the direction of their cart. 

"You two seemed familiar." 

"Huh? Terrence? We only got to know each other because of the project. I travel with him a lot recently. And we're sort of lab partners. He'll be taking over my task for this week." He dropped the items he's holding in their cart before pushing forward. 

"I see." Gav leaned down to open one of the island display freezers and took out a frozen slab of salmon. "So, you work with him every day? Course mates?" 

"No. He's AgBio. We likely had classes together or GenEd; probably not lab though." Definitely, not lab. Their colleges have their own laboratories for teaching. The franks were located at the end of the long row of display freezers. Gav picked out Cai's favorite and they immediately went to the checkout counter. 

Cai realized the touch when Gav slid a firm hand from near the base of his spine to grip at his hip. In the back of his mind, he knew it's been there for a while; it was just something so familiar and natural to them that it's incredibly (and honestly, stupidly) easy to forget or ignore. He remembered Terrence's smile and look, something he should have been familiar with, given that it's not the first time they had to explain their relationship to people. It happened frequently enough; it's almost routinary. But just as most things about them, Cai relegated the issue to the far corner of his mind and stood as closely to Gav as he could while they wait their turn at the cashier. 

***   
Another day, another early morning where he determinedly smooshed his face on Cai's warm neck. And as per usual, no response. Which was great if not for Cai wanting to be woken up early for a morning walk. Which was, strictly speaking, they shouldn't be doing given that they should be under self-imposed quarantine (not for other’s sake but for their own). But Cai argued last night that they won't be seeing anyone out in their neighborhood since usually nobody's awake at five o'clock on a weekend except Gav, the elderly people, and that strange walkathon-er librarian. A little surprised and agitated, Gav was (yet again) unable to say no to Cai's sporadic impulses. 

("Tell me, Cairo. How in the world did you know Kuya Allen from the reference section? And what were you doing outside at three o'clock in the morning?" 

"It's for fucking work, Gav! I was on trip. Nothing happened so stop being a drama queen. And we both hang out regularly at the library, Gavreel. Of course, I'd at least know the guy.")

He assumed it wasn't yet a quarter before five; Cai had put a show of setting their phone alarms last night and Gav would have surely woken up to the sound of it. Now the only question was: should he get up early or should he pretend to have woken up with the alarm? Well, that's a pretty easy question. He rarely slept in (actually, he'd never; he'd usually just lay down and cuddle); but when he did, it's always with Cai. So, when both of their phones went off and Cai, after a few seconds, showed signs of life, Gav moved to wake him up further. 

"Baby, time to wake up." He reached for their phones on the side table and turned off the alarms one by one. 

As if on cue, Cai turned and stared at him with blurry eyes. "I'm awake." 

Gav fondly smiled at him. "That's good, baby. Let's get up." 

He would always feel an endearing kind of joy whenever he'd watch Cai attempt to do things he's really not good at, like waking up early or eating vegetables. Since high school, Gav had found it amusing to watch him struggle getting ready for an early class. However, this particular morning, he did notice a level of certainty, a hint of practiced ease in Cai's actions, rather than the disoriented mess he usually was. There were little changes to Cai these past few months that Gav noted; like how Cai forgot to nag him about the payment for utilities for the past two months, or how Cai tried cooking the salsa dip he'd always ask Gav to cook, or how Gav's room had stayed pristine the entire time he's away from their apartment (despite the fact that he very rarely slept there and that the room was mostly used as a study and storage). All these little things which shouldn't bother him at all, he noticed. 

"Babe! Your head band?" Gav called out from their threshold. 

"Got it!" Cai rushed down the stairs as he tried to put on his windbreaker. "The keys?" 

Gav merely smiled and patted his breast pocket. 

Every now and then, they'd have these early morning walks. Gav remembered it started during their school trip in 8th grade. They were assigned to breakfast duty since they were in the same group and had to wake up very early. He learned a lot of Cai's sleeping habits, his pet peeves, and favorites during that weeklong trip. And to help Cai shake of sleep and while away the early morning hours, they got into walking along the beach coast for pretty much the rest of that week. Gav wasn't sure how the habit formed; how when one of them needed to think about something or just needed an out from boredom, they would often have these walks. Sporadically though, it was never a regular thing they did. The last they'd done this was on December the previous year, before Cai got on a plane to Bukidnon for the holidays. Gav was the one who called for it; he felt a little annoyed that he couldn't bring himself to ask Cai's parents if he could spend the holidays in Cavite. Besides, he had their son for most of the year; he didn't want to be selfish. 

Unhurriedly, they went down their street towards the rotunda that connected all the other streets of their neighborhood. Cai was right though; so far, they'd seen no one as they ambled down the main street. Before, they'd see a neighbor or two; but Gav suspected it was because of the early morning mass. 

He heard Cai stifle down a yawn. Their walks tended to be quiet, with only a few comments thrown here and there as they observed their surroundings. There was always companionable silence and a strangely skewed sense of time between them during these walks. There had been several instances of them walking for more than two hours, only realizing the time when one of them felt hungry. In the past, they'd walk through familiar paths. But then they learned about randonauting during the pandemic and lockdown days. They had fun with the app a few times; but got tired after and just went out to places they hadn't been in before to explore. Except for restricted and private areas, Gav could say they'd pretty much gone through most of the back roads and alleys of their small town. They probably needed to go out of town later on if they wanted to go somewhere new. 

This time around, it seemed they had no intended direction or agenda. They walked where ever their feet would take them; whenever a path would diverge or present itself, they'd take a split second to decide and just went for it. At the expense of looking very suspicious, they had gone into narrow streets and dead-ends which left them turning back to where they initially came from. After about three dead-ends and re-turns, they decided to march up towards the direction of the mountain roads. Gav wanted to see if the botanical garden up on the side of the mountain was open. A classmate of his was complaining that he had gone up with his girlfriend last weekend only to find the botanical garden closed for some maintenance work. He had picnic with Cai the last time they were there and that was nearly two years ago. 

They were a few meters away from the garden gates when he heard the telltale signs of Cai's composure disintegrating. He heard Cai stop in his tracks. 

"Baby, I'm fucking hungry." 

He pressed his lips firmly to stop himself from smiling; and turned to a disgruntled looking Cai. Gav looked at his phone and whistled. "Wow, three hours." 

Cai distinctly groaned. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." 

"The spirits are playing with us." 

"No. It's space-time warp." 

"Or that," Cai sighed tiredly. 

Gav raised a hand towards Cai. Without a word, Cai grabbed them and, hand in hand, they started walking back down to where they came from. Once they got down the foot of the mountain, they went and bought food from the nearest 7/11 store. 

He was halfway through his tuna siopao when he heard Cai searching through the paper bag. They were sitting on a bench near the sports field across from the 7/11 store. 

"Ugh, they forgot to the give me sugar." 

"You forgot to ask." Gav made a face. "Also, that Hershey's chocolate is sweet enough to rot teeth." 

"It’s dark chocolate, Gav." 

"Doesn't mean they didn't mix in sugar with that."

"Whatever. I'll go back and ask for a packet." 

"Are you serious?" 

"Yes." 

Gav grunted through a bite of siopao, and watched disappointedly as Cai marched across the street. He took a sip of Cai's drink and grimaced. "It's sweet enough." He washed the taste of chocolate with a mouthful of brewed coffee.

He already finished his food and was leisurely sipping his coffee when he heard a phone ringing. It was Cai's phone which was laying down idly beside him. There was an incoming video call from 'Terrence Carreon'. Without much thought, Gav answered the call. 

"Cai— oh, sorry." The confusion was pretty clear on Terrence's face. 

Gav flashed a smile. "Terrence, hi. This is Gav. Sorry, Cai left his phone with me. He'll be here in a while." 

"Oh, that's ok. I was just going to tell Cai I emailed him this morning. It seems you guys are out. I didn't know. Sorry."

"No problem. I'll tell him your message." 

"Thanks. I'll text him as well. Sorry to bother." 

"Don't worry. Bye." Gav ended the call immediately. "You could have just texted him." Almost absentmindedly, he browsed through Cai's phone. He saw that there was a message on Vidgram from that Christine girl which Cai left 'seen'. After a few seconds, a text message from Terrence came through. 

'Morning, Cai. I emailed you the field documents and photos today. They're all in the Google folder I sent. I'll finish and send you my lab report on Monday. Call me if you need any help. I'm just here.'

Gav frowned as he read through the messages the two had the past few weeks. They seemed to be texting each other every day (Terrence asking where they'd have lunch and Cai asking when he'd leave the office) and calling frequently. He checked Cai's socmed accounts; and so far, they're only in contact on ScreenTime. He was about to check Cai's email when said boy returned with his packets of sugar. Gav glared at the packets.

"Hey, what happened?" Cai threw him a suspicious look and sat down to prepare his chocolate drink. 

Gav ignored him to browse through Cai's phone. "Terrence called to tell you he emailed some files." 

"Oh, ok." At this point, Cai was ignoring him to concentrate on his drink and egg sandwich. It was almost a minute into the silence (and a single bite left into Cai's sandwich) when he belatedly responded to Gav's news. "Can you text Terrence that I'll check his email this afternoon? And thanks." 

Gav hummed in response and wordlessly opened Cai's messaging app, read the recent text, paused for a moment, typed a brief message and immediately sent the text to Terrence. On an impulse, he turned off and pocketed Cai's phone. 

"You know, I heard there's a garden show today on campus. Want to go?" 

"I thought we were supposed to stay away from people this week." 

"But it's the last day of the event. We might find something Mama would love." 

"Ugh, fine." Cai clicked his tongue. "There's a hibiscus she wanted."

"Yeah, the Queen Sirikit. Maybe we'd find one there. Let's buy disposable mask after this." He downed in one gulp the last of his brewed coffee, stood up to stretch and waited for Cai to finish his drink (which he knew well would take a while because Cai's tongue was as sensitive as a cat's). 

They didn't find the hibiscus Cai's mother wanted; but Gav found several herbs he liked. They ate lunch outside and went from one little shop to another. It was already late in the afternoon when they got home, bringing along with them Gav's little herbs and second-hand clothes, and Cai's trinkets and bits of nerdery. 

***  
"Gav, I can't find my gray shirt." 

Without looking up from his plank position, Gav answered. "Check my closet." He also couldn't help but add, "You can wear my shorts too." 

He heard from across the room Cai's affronted reaction. "I'm not gonna wear floral shorts." 

Gav's laughter nearly made him loose his posture. "Says the guy who wears floral top." 

"Fuck off." Cai's pissed off tone made him completely loose it and Gav fell down the mat laughing. 

Cai was still hovering over his laptop with a towel on his shoulder when Gav looked up. "Aren't you going to take a bath? 'Cause you know a day without wouldn't hurt you. You'd still smell nice to me." 

"Shut up, Gav." He expected the glare sent his way. "I'm going now." And Cai stomped out of the room, leaving his laptop behind. Gav remembered the time when Cai didn't mind smelling like a slob. Strangely, he missed that. It was when they got to college that Cai started minding his hygiene. 

Gav continue on with his exercise routine when he heard the sound of an incoming call. He looked at the direction of their phones and saw no notifications from there. It took him seconds to realize that that the call was coming from Cai's laptop. It was a Skype call. 

From Terrence. 

Gav frowned at the laptop for seconds before sitting in front of it and swiping at the scanner. He answered the call. He felt a tad haughty seeing the expectant face of the other turn into confusion and surprise. "Hey, again!"

A slightly awkward laugh. "Hi, Gav. Sorry, I wanted to talk with Cai. Is he —"

"He just got in the bath right now. Actually, we just got home about an hour ago. If this is about work, he’s seen your email. I'll tell him you called once he's done." 

"Thanks, Gav. Sorry to ask, but could you tell him to please call me after. I need to clarify something with him." 

Gav felt a strain on his smile for some reason. Though Terrence seemed like an amiable guy, there was something about him that didn't sit well with Gav. They only met yesterday and already Gav wasn't liking him. "Yeah, sure. I'll tell him. Anything else?" 

"Ah, I guess there’s nothing. I'll just wait for his call. Thanks, Gav."

"Sure, no problem. Bye!" And before the other could even say another word, Gav dropped the call. 

There had been at least eight other Skype calls with Terrence based on the logs. Gav was tempted to log on Cai's accounts again just to double check; but Cai got in the room just in time, shirtless. 

It took a good minute for Cai who had been busy drying his hair to notice the silence. He was surprised to see Gav just staring at him from his study table with his laptop on. "What?" 

"I thought you were not going to wear my shorts." 

"The floral ones, you idiot." He picked the drabbest one he could find. A dark and plain forest green one that was surprisingly comfortable. It was probably a new one sent to him by his aunt. Cai planned to wear it as often as he could. 

"Ah, ok." There was a quirky smile on Gav's face and a lingering glance that gave Cai a sort of liquid warmth flowing from his chest down to his stomach. Quickly, Cai ducked and resumed drying his hair. These feelings weren't unfamiliar. Infrequent, distracting, but not unfamiliar. As usual, Cai didn't think too much of it. 

Gav would sometimes have this really strong unsettling urge to bite Cai. Somewhere. Anywhere. Preferably around his stomach, or hips, or shoulder, or neck. Sometimes his ears; sometimes the lips. Cai wasn't muscular like him. He has a softness that's really hard to resist. And Gav rarely stopped himself from reaching out and touching. Except these moments when he really wanted to touch... harder. Gav quietly breathed in deeply. 

"By the way, Terrence called you on Skype." Already, Gav regretted his words. Nearly despised it even. 

"Oh, really? What about?" Cai liked the distraction. He put on the grey shirt he found on Gav's closet. Vaguely, he remembered that it wasn't actually his but Gav's. 

"Um, he said he wanted to talk with you about work." Gav rubbed at his forehead testily. 

"Are you ok, Gav?" There was an uneasy look on Gav's face that made him worry. Cai stood behind Gav and touched his neck. "Baby?" 

Hearing the endearment, Gav felt his shoulders relax and grabbed Cai's hand. "I'm ok, baby. Maybe a little fatigued. Did you feel anything today? An ache, symptoms? Anything?" 

Cai thought about it. "Fatigued? But then we walked a lot today." 

"That's ok. I'll wash up, then let's sleep. We need to rest." Absentmindedly, he placed a kiss on Cai's open palm. 

Gav stood up and headed out of the room. Cai, though slightly confused, called Terrence. 

They went to bed together that night. And if Gav held him a little tighter and closer than usual, Cai didn't say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could explain but I'm currently high on caffeine. Between last chapter and this, I've been really busy. Really, really, busy. Like 'woah, why the f--- am I busy??!!' I still have no idea what I'm doing. I also don't know what is going to happen. What'll happen next chapter? Who knows. Certainly not me.

**Author's Note:**

> I've no idea what I'm doing, honestly. This is (surprisingly) my first post here in AO3. Been contemplating for a while if I should migrate my other works to here. But I guess, that's not happening soon. Oh, well... 
> 
> Just a warning, I'm a pretty lazy writer and I haven't written anything in quite a long while. This is something to contribute to the fandom and I hope others will follows. I've pretty much no idea how to proceed after this, but it's a start, I guess...


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